Four photos of him in different settings sent to her by phone. There are no words.
Photo 1: In his workplace standing handsomely holding his product
Photo 2: In a large swimming pool at a resort alone
Photo 3: In the foreground of a wedding
Photo 4: Selfie with a young girl presumably family member
In all the photos he isn’t smiling just a faint grin. But his dark kind eyes are looking intensely through the lens as if to say, “see me”.
Four photos: work, pleasure, culture, family. Those four photos: pride, desire, obligation, honour. About those four photos: builder of enterprise, sensual lover, outsider sometimes, protector and guardian of the next generation. Four expressions of love: self-respect, longing, marriage destructing, family connecting. Four symbols of manhood: courageously strong, tender, family man, role model. Four conundrums: good enough or be more, realist or dreamer, obligation or happiness, status quo or challenge.
It’s his story. He hopes she understands. The photos are both poetic and a riddle.
They meet.
He is standing naked in the doorway holding the white bath towel against his dark skin. The scene is striking in its composition. It forms a photographic snap shot that clicks permanently into her memory.
As he stares at her across the room with his intriguing gaze locking her eyes to his, still dabbing himself dry. His face has changed, relaxed, a smile, a playfulness in his eyes. Refreshed from the shower, he is energised again. The flow of water rushing over his nakedness has fully awoken him. The millions of droplets from the shower flow down his head gushing over his black hair, running across his eyelids as he stretches up, a warm shimmering wetness over his strong chest flows following the beautifully contoured skin that encases this curious being. He loves water, it has qualities that draws him closer to himself, his wholesome soulful self. It’s these reminders of the natural world that give him relief from the urbane. He is so busy in his head, so much thinking, speaking, directing, doing, building, managing, adjusting, predicting. He is the businessman, the rainmaker. Water takes him out of his head and into to the now, what matters right now. It brings him into his skin. He can feel his feet firmly on the carpet moving his soles enjoying the wool pile spring between his toes.
Looking across the bedroom she admires his stature. His presence is demanding and since the shower, he has a lightness of being.
She is naked too in a pensive floating peaceful state. Bare under the sheets satiated by this husky, robust guy. A hipster looking cool dude who left her lying in her own pond, a luxurious cool dampness under her butt cheeks, evidence of the moments before. He knows what he has done. He has opened a gate they both sense can’t be easily closed now.
He’s fast tracking a brief summary of four decades of living. Traversing his achievements and challenges. He is proud, but questioning, never comfortable with the status quo. His observance to his faith, his openness describing his time for prayer. He generously describes his world and how he crafts his life adopting traditions of his parents’ life as his own, they are inseparable.
He knows she cares. Her body speaks to him. She says his body is perfect for her.
Real or imagined the connection of their consciousness remains. They feel it no matter where in the world either of them are wondering.
These words are shared to instil hope and remind us of joy. It’s a story that’s shared by a friend and similar stories are spoken of in close circles. It can feel unresolved but when is love ever resolved? Perhaps love is more elusive, and some are lucky to have multiple experiences like this. A reflective moment of lovers gone by and the fragments of them that are carried in our memories. There is something magical about the human spirit when there is a soulful connection between two lovers. Not forgotten, grateful for the stirring and in some situations the passion that drew them together can’t ever leave. There is a yearning to join again that may strengthen or diminish with time. Keeping loves’ flame bright requires effort.
When there is a full moon or a night sky with even just one bright star, looking up to the universe I’ll send a celebratory toast to all the romantic lovers that have been, that are now and that are still to be. As they bask in the soft gentleness of the night-light I hope they continue to live a life of love and passion. It transcends materialism, social norms and cultural mores. There is no logic when it comes to love of the heart. Its connection is as mysterious as the life force itself. It’s an impulse that is charged with both joy and sorrow. Not all things can be explained. It’s only through love that we bravely truly feel alive.